Keep your cat’s ears in tip-top shape!

We are very aware that our ears are very important to us, well, for a cat, their ears are also an equally important part of their survival. Of course, most cats are now indoor cats and their hunt is limited to finding your catnip mouse hiding under the couch, but ear health is still important.

A cat’s ears are mobile, they can rotate in many ways, they can hear ultrasonic (high-pitched) sounds that we cannot even imagine hearing and hear these sounds in 10 different tones. A cat’s hearing is a protection against danger and a warning of approaching prey, which in nature was a form of self-preservation.

Cats don’t have many ear diseases that cause hearing loss; however, they have hearing problems that cause them great discomfort. Most ear problems start with the same signs of discomfort, ear trembling, scratching your ears, rubbing your ears against the ground, walking with your head tilted to one side, and having a peculiar odor coming out of your ears.

What are some of the problems a cat can face?

Ear mites are one of the most common diseases a cat can get. Ear mites are contagious and can drive cats crazy.

Ear mites love the nice warm hollows in the dark ear canal. They pierce the skin on the inside of the ear to feed and multiply very quickly. The itching is intense. Mites tend to look like coffee grounds in a cat’s ear or crumbling dirt. If your eyes are sharp and you have a magnifying glass, you may be able to see tiny white mites, the size of the head of a pin, moving.

Ear mites are highly contagious and can create bacterial infections due to the cat scratching its skin. If you have other animals (cats or dogs), the mites can travel to each of them, so all animals must be treated. Humans, however, are immune to them.

To truly treat ear mites, ear drops alone will not. Mites, like all living things, have the desire to fight for survival and that means that they will find another place to go once, the ear drops are placed in the ears. The ear mites will exit the ear once the drops are placed and will travel to the tail head area and set up camp until the effect of the drops wears off and will return to the ear.

An effective way to treat mites is with prescription eardrops and a medicine that will treat the whole body against the parasites. It is important to remove the mites from the body along with other parasites to ensure a full recovery.

Believe it or not, allergies can create ear problems. What is an allergy? It is the reaction of the immune system to substances that the body considers unacceptable. Allergic cat ear disease is not the most common ailment in cats, like allergic ear disease in dogs, but it does cause problems.

If you see your cat scratching the side of his forehead, right in front of the ears, this is a common sign of allergies in cats. Cats can be allergic to environmental conditions such as pollen, grass, weeds, and dust mites. Food can also create an allergic reaction, so if you’ve started feeding your cat a new food and it suddenly starts scratching, consider that it might be allergic to something in the new food.

It is important that the cat is tested for allergic reactions. If possible, a veterinary dermatologist should be consulted for accurate test results. Specific allergies can be identified simply by injecting small amounts of suspicious substances into the skin. A veterinary dermatologist can interpret the reactions and determine what is the cause.

Unfortunately, it is not a simple case of taking a blood sample, sending it to a laboratory, and obtaining a report. The best solution to get rid of the allergy is to remove the substance from the cat’s life. When this is not possible, it is necessary, in mild cases, to administer antihistamines and essential fatty acid supplements to the cat. Severe cases will require cortisone injections or tablets to help control the itching. This entire procedure will require frequent visits to the vet and a watchful eye, as there are side effects to consider, which differ with each cat.

Older cats can get polyps and tumors inside the ear canal. In fact, older cats seem to have more problems with ear tumors than dogs. The tumors are more likely to occur in the external ear canal and may be connected to the gland that produces the wax or any other part of the ear, within the ear canal.

These tumors are more likely to be malignant than benign, and in either case, they can grow large enough to obstruct the ear canal. They can be surgically removed and then treated, if cancerous, with radiation. The success of the treatment depends on when the problem was detected, the sooner the better.

Clean and medicate your cat’s ears.
It is a good idea to look inside your cat’s ears at least once a week. If they look dirty, clean them with a cotton ball moistened with a little warm water or a solution recommended by your vet. Do not do it and I repeat do not use a cotton swab to scratch around your cat’s ear, do not go deeper than your first knuckle.

Smelling your ear is also a good idea. If you notice a strange smell, I suggest you quickly go to the vet to do some research. A cat’s ear should not smell for any reason and a scent signal is a sign that something may be wrong.

If your cat needs any medicine, put it in the ear. Apply the necessary drops, bend your ear and gently rub in the medicine. It should sound a bit squishy. I also recommend that you step aside once the ear is released, as your cat will want to shake its head and some of the medicine may fly off you.

This is a medical treatment that cats don’t seem to mind, as most cats like to play with their ears and if your cat has an itchy ear, he should enjoy the treatment.

The best suggestion I can give is to do what I do with my cats, I check their ears almost daily, mainly because they love to have their ears rubbed and manipulated for some reason. I think it reminds them of the mother cat who cleaned her ears when they were kittens.

I also suggest that if you see your cat suddenly scratching its head or ears, just for fun and a laugh, take a quick trip to the vet, whatever the problem, it can be nipped in the bud and save you a bundle. I am a firm believer that an ounce of prevention (a quick trip to the vet) can save you a great deal of money in the long run.

Good hearing is just as important to your cat as it is to you, so take care of his ears

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